Yep, that’s right – I got my first taste of Fresh Air BBQ last night around 9:30 (Lori brought some back from Jackson). Guess what folks, it was really good and the sauce was really good as well. I’m not going to rate it yet as my feeling about BBQ is that you need to first eat it at the source before you attempt to take any away (it can dry up, not be as fresh, etc. etc.). But I will give my initial impressions.

Lori brought some sauce back that was really good, but I don’t know what other options there were. It was definitely a vinegar sauce (red – with a good spice – kind of reminiscent of western NC) and well spices. The meat looked to be hand shredded (once again, not sure if there are other options, but this is what we got) and a little pre-sauced (once again, similar to some NC styles where they put a bit of sauce on the meat and let you control the rest).

The meat had

good flavor and good smoke – might have been a teeny bit dry, but that was hard to tell as it was sitting in a hot car for three hours before I got to sample. I was very pleasantly surprised and now really want to get down there for the real deal (hoping I can get some Q pulled would be great).

The slaw was great and had I had any buns at my house, I would have a nice sandwich for lunch today, but I’m going to have to settle for less. The stew wasn’t the best around, but I didn’t think it was too bad. So there you go.

On a side note, we found out that the Q served in the Macon establishment is made in Jackson and shipped over (bad call on their part). Also, Justin revised his initial opinion based on this sample. The theory is the two places are different and he didn’t get any of the good sauce (so they must have an inferior sauce in their offering as well).